The present invention broadly relates to cell culture chambers and, more specifically, pertains to a new and improved construction of an apparatus for carrying out cell-biological experiments.
In its more particular aspects, the present invention relates to an apparatus for carrying out or performing cell-biological experiments on or with botanical, zoological or homological cells. A nutrient or nutrient medium can be continually replaced by the action of an osmotic fluid pump. The apparatus constitutes a sealed system, which, once set in operation, operates or runs fully automatically and without additional energy requirements.
Cell culturing technology, external to organisms, has been a widespread method in scientific laboratories and in industry since approximately 1950. Botanical, zoological or homological cells are caused to multiply in a nutrient medium within special containers. After a cell cycle, i.e. after the cell count has doubled, the nutrient medium is normally expended or exhausted and must be replaced by a fresh nutrient medium. This presents no particular problems in a normally equipped cell-biological laboratory.
Since 1981, when the American space ferry, "Space Shuttle", was introduced, a new problem has arisen: the fact that cell-biological experiments can now be carried out under zero gravity conditions inevitably led to the development of new laboratory methods. It is not easy to handle or manage fluids under zero gravity conditions, since fluids cannot readily be poured or transferred from one container to the other. It is furthermore desirable, for various reasons, to develop techniques that require the least possible amount of intervention by accompanying astronauts.